UPDATE ON THE BIRDS OF ISLA GUADALUPE, BAJA CALIFORNIA

Abstract

We report 56 bird specimens of 31 species taken on Isla Guadalupe, Baja California, between 1986 and 2004 and housed at the Colección Ornitológica del Laboratorio de Vertebrados de la Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Ensenada, along with other sight and specimen records. The specimens include the first published Guadalupe records for 10 species: the Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris), Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus), Bonaparte’s Gull (Larus philadelphia), Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens), Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus), Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor), Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia), Magnolia Warbler (Dendroica magnolia), Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus), and Orchard Oriole (Icterus spurius). A specimen of the eastern subspecies of Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater ater) and a sight record of the Gray-cheeked Thrush (Catharus minimus) are the first reported from the Baja California Peninsula (and islands). A photographed Franklin’s Gull (Larus pipixcan) is also an island first. Currently 136 native species and three species introduced in North America have been recorded from the island and nearby waters.